Ashley Abbott failed to deter her father from marrying Gloria. John was all set to end his marriage to Gloria, but she nursed him back to health after he fell down the stairs. Even Jack, Gloria's toughest critic, was impressed with Gloria's devotion to John. Later, Gloria – with Kevin's help – chased away John's attractive therapist, Gitta.

Gloria allied herself with newcomer Brenda, a mysterious woman, who, in reality, was the nefarious Sheila Carter. She suffered another setback when her abusive husband "Terrible Tom" Fisher (to whom Gloria was still legally wed) showed up in town, hoping to cash in on Gloria's new-found wealth. Tom's return forced Gloria to relive her horrible days as his victim. She failed to capture Tom making incriminating statements on tape. Sensing Tom was a threat to his family, John confronted him. A struggle ensued and shot Tom. Later, the Abbott patriarch was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing Tom, leaving Gloria at the mercy of John's children, Jack and Ashley.

In an attempt to discredit John's kids, Gloria contaminated samples of a new beauty product created by Ashley. To deflect attention from herself, Gloria put the tainted cream on her own forehead, causing a painful rash. Gloria's scheme also hurt Abby, her step-granddaughter. Gloria and Abby recovered, but a Jabot customer who applied the poisoned product to her skin did not. Gloria was relieved to learn that the exact cause of the customer's death was inconclusive.

John's sudden death from a stroke devastated Gloria, especially after Jack manipulated it so that she would miss the funeral. A bogus will – Jack had tricked a confused John into writing it in prison – left Gloria with nothing. However, Gloria convinced Katherine Chancellor to give her an executive job at Jabot, where she is attempting to make her mark on her deceased husband's legacy, much to Jack and Ashley's annoyance. Gloria moved on to the handsome attorney Will Bardwell. The two quickly fell in love and married but Will was secretly investigating the Glo by Jabot tainted cream scandal. Just when he found out that Gloria was behind the mess, he suffered a terrible stroke, eventually dying before he could reveal the truth. Will did reveal that he truly loved Gloria though. Sad but relieved that she wouldn't have to face the music for her crimes she planned Will's memorial only to find out that Will had a twin named Jeff! Gloria sets her sights on Will's brother Jeff to find out just how much he knows about her dirty little secret, much to her son Michael's dismay!

Jeff and Gloria were married. Their conniving knew no bounds! Jeff and Gloria were soon buying up Jabot stock, even managed to get Katherine Chancellor's share, plotted to run the company with Gloria's old nemsis Jack. The two seemed to be a perfect match for each other. Until Gloria's ex, River Baldwin, showed up in Genoa City. He brought up old feelings in Gloria from their early days raising Michael. Jeff was jealous, eventually spilling the beans on Gloria's connection to the Jabot face cream scandal, landing Gloria in jail. River left town. Will she do serious time in prison? Does this spell the end of Jeff and Gloria?